Posted on: Sunday, September 2, 2001

Navy says Ehime Maru remains intact

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Ehime Maru did not sustain additional damage this weekend despite falling 24 feet after a sling broke during an attempted recovery operation Friday evening, Navy officials said yesterday.

The Japanese vessel, sunk in 2,000 feet of water after being rammed by a surfacing Navy submarine in February, did not appear to be leaking a significant amount of diesel fuel after the recovery mishap, said Navy Cmdr. David Wray, a spokesman for the operation.

A Navy-contracted helicopter flew over the site at dawn Saturday and the crew saw a sheen on the water slightly smaller than the size of the recovery ship, Rockwater 2. Navy officials said the sheen equates to less than three quarts of diesel fuel.

The Rockwater 2 returned to Honolulu Harbor last night to obtain a new, stronger sling, and will return to the recovery site, nine miles off Diamond Head, today.

Friday's mishap was the third snag to plague the recovery efforts, which Wray said represents the first effort to recover such a large object from waters so deep.

The Navy hopes to recover the bodies of nine men and boys who died aboard the Ehime Maru.